Dataset Information

COVID-19 Result Follow-Up Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department Setting.

ABSTRACT: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic upended the world. As emergency departments and hospitals across the nation and world braced themselves for the surge of this new disease, the emergency department (ED) at Children's National Hospital (CNH) quickly created a process to address surges in patient visits and follow-ups for coronavirus testing. Within 2 wk of the first reported pediatric patient diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, CNH ED implemented a new comprehensive follow-up process. This article describes the novel process that ensured timely notification of testing results, enabled patients to speak remotely with ED providers, increased patient and staff safety by reducing unnecessary exposures, and suggested a good patient experience. With over 1900 patients discharged pending their COVID-19 results, the program is successful. We anticipate expansion into antibody testing and notification as the pandemic progresses.

SUBMITTER: Newman S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7884666 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

COVID-19 Result Follow-Up Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department Setting.

Newman Shaina S Simpson Joelle J Perritt Ashley A Morrison Sephora S Berkowitz Deena D Brown Kathleen K Goodwin Tress T

Disaster medicine and public health preparedness 20201022 3

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic upended the world. As emergency departments and hospitals across the nation and world braced themselves for the surge of this new disease, the emergency department (ED) at Children's National Hospital (CNH) quickly created a process to address surges in patient visits and follow-ups for coronavirus testing. Within 2 wk of the first reported pediatric patient diagnosed with COVID-19 in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area, CNH ED implemented ...[more]

PMID: 33087212

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundDuring the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period, the use of emergency services with pediatric non-COVID patients has decreased considerably. We aimed to examine whether there was a change in the demographic data, triage profile, causes, management, and cost of pediatric emergency department (PED) visits of non-COVID patients during the pandemic period.MethodsThis study was a retrospective, single-center, observational comparative study that was conducted at the PED. Patient records were examined during "the pandemic spring" and the same period of the previous year. Patient demographics, waiting time, and outcome of the PED visit were analyzed in the entire population of children admitted to the PED during the study period, whereas more precise data such as the reason for PED use, duration of symptoms, urgency levels according to the Emergency Severity Index (ESI), final diagnosis, management, and cost of patient care were analyzed in a sample of admitted patients. We used the chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and Mann-Whitney U test for statistical analyses.ResultsA total of 62,593 PED visits occurred. During the pandemic period, PED visits showed a decrease of 55.8% compared to the previous year. Patients included in the sampling study group were selected using a systematic random sampling method. The median waiting time during the pandemic period was significantly shorter than the previous year (median 14 min [IQR: 5-32] vs. median 5 min [IQR: 2-16]; p<0.001). The median duration of symptoms was 1 day (1-2) in both groups. Emergency Severity Index (ESI) levels I, II, and III showed a significant increase (27.7% vs. 37.3%) in triage scoring compared to levels IV and V (72.3% vs. 62.7%) during the pandemic period (p<0.001). The median cost per patient during the pandemic period was statistically higher compared to the previous year ($19.57 [19.57-40.50] vs. $25.34 [31.50-52.01]; p<0.001). Overall costs during the pandemic period had a 1.6-fold decline.ConclusionWe highlighted the changes in an ordinary PED profile during an extraordinary period. A shift in ESI levels in a more emergent direction was observed. While the number of nonurgent patients, especially those with infections, decreased, the rates of surgical cases, acute neurological and heart diseases, home accidents, and poisoning increased relative to the pre-pandemic period.

Project description:The restrictive measures required to face the recent outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) may impact patterns of healthcare utilization. Our aim was to provide an insight into the change in the use of a pediatric emergency department (ED) during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The medical records of the children seen in our pediatric ED during March and April 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Consequently, these were compared to the medical records of 2018 and 2019 from the same time period and from other control periods (January-February 2019 and 2020, and July-August 2018 and 2019). The total number of ED visits declined by 73% from 2019 to 2020 (3051 vs 818). Significant variations were observed in the distribution of children between triage categories: the proportion of patients who was given a green-code showed a 0.59-fold decrease in comparison to 2019 (95% CI 0.5-0.69), while a relative increase in the proportion of yellow codes was observed (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.2-1.78).Conclusion: Quarantine measures significantly impacted on the total number of patients and on the reasons for visiting them in our pediatric ED. This substantial decrease in pediatric care may either be due to lower rates of acute infections because of social distancing, or to parents' or caregivers' reticence to risk exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in a health-care setting. What is known: • A recent outbreak of a novel coronavirus responsible for a severe acute respiratory syndrome is spreading globally. • Restrictive measures may impact patterns of healthcare utilization, as observed in other previous outbreaks. What is new: • This study shows significant variations in the distribution of children among triage categories during the COVID-19 pandemic. • Discharge diagnosis was significantly different as well, in particular a relative increase in the proportion of children presenting with traumatic injuries and a decrease of viral infections were observed.

Project description:BackgroundCOVID-19 vaccinations are now recommended in the United States (U.S.) for children ≥ 6 months old. However, pediatric vaccination rates remain low, particularly in the Hispanic/Latinx population.ObjectiveUsing the 4C vaccine hesitancy framework (calculation, complacency, confidence, convenience), we examined parental attitudes in the emergency department (ED) towards COVID-19 vaccination, identified dimensions of parental vaccine hesitancy, and assessed parental willingness to have their child receive the COVID-19 vaccine.MethodsAs part of a larger multi-methods study examining influenza vaccine hesitancy, we conducted interviews that included questions about COVID-19 vaccine authorization for children. We used directed content analysis to extract qualitative themes from 3 groups of parents in the ED: Hispanic/Latinx Spanish speaking (HS), Hispanic/Latinx English speaking (HE), non-Hispanic/non-Latinx White English speaking (WE). Themes were triangulated with the Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines (PACV) survey, where higher scores indicate increased vaccine hesitancy.ResultsFactors influencing vaccine hesitancy were mapped to the 4C framework from 58 sets of interviews and PACVs. HE and HS parents, compared to WE parents, had less knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccine, and more beliefs in COVID-19 vaccine myths. However, both HS and HE parent groups were more inclined to endorse COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness as a reason to have their children vaccinated. HS parents felt that COVID-19 increased their fear of illnesses in general and were worried about confusing COVID-19 with other infections. Median PACV scores of HS (Mdn = 20) and HE (Mdn = 20) parent groups were higher than of WE parents (Mdn = 10), but parental willingness to have their child receive COVID-19 vaccination was similar across groups.ConclusionsHigher COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among HS and HE parents compared to WE parents may be attributed to insufficient knowledge about COVID-19, its vaccine, along with COVID-19 vaccine myths. Efforts to provide targeted vaccine education to different populations is warranted.

Dataset Information

COVID-19 Result Follow-Up Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department Setting.

Publications

COVID-19 Result Follow-Up Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department Setting.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets